The Blame Game

 Does this game sound familiar to you at all? In last week's blog post, I talked about playing the games hide and seek and peek a boo and how we don't have to hide anything from God or the trusted friends He has placed in our circle. Today, I want to talk about another game that you have probably played before. This game is not a new game and has been played since the beginning of time. The game I'm talking about today is the blame game. The word blame means to hold someone responsible and find fault with. In the blame game, when something goes wrong and we do something or go somewhere we shouldn't go, we want to put the blame on someone else.  Instead of owning up to our wrong actions, we try to say this person made me do it, say it or go there. People may influence our choices, but in the end, we make the ultimate choice. Take a few minutes and travel with me to the Bible in Genesis where we see the beginning of the blame game. The Scripture verses I want to focus on is Genesis 2:12-13. Before I talk about those verses, I want to give you some background information leading up to those verses. God had created the first man and woman, Adam and Eve. Adam was created first, then Eve was created from one of Adam's ribs. Adam was to take care of the Garden of Eden where they were at. Before Eve was created, God had given Adam specific instructions on what to do and not to do in the garden. God told him that any tree could be eaten from, except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 2:16-17). I'm sure he shared this information with Eve as we will see from her response to a question shortly. Now God had created lots of different trees they could enjoy and that would be good for food (Genesis 2:9). As we move into chapter 3 of Genesis, we see the serpent approaching Eve and asking her a question about what God said about the tree (v.1). It was trying to plant doubt and get her to second-guess the truth she heard. Sound familiar? Yes- it sounds familiar to me too! Eve told it that she could eat from any tree in the garden except  for the one in the middle (v.2-3). Eve didn't have the command completely right, but knew enough that she wasn't supposed to eat from a tree in the middle of the garden and that there would be consequences if she did. A word to the wise: make sure to listen carefully to the instructions we've been given. We need to know exactly what has been said and say exactly what is said, so we can obey fully. If we would all be honest, Eve is not the only one who has not stated instructions correctly! The serpent then proceeds to tell Eve that she would not die if she ate from that tree and lists all the benefits of eating from the tree (v.4-5). After taking a good look at the tree, Eve gives in and eats some of the fruit off the tree. Not only does she eat some, but she gives some to her husband Adam and he eats some too (v.6). Later on, we see God talking to them and asking them did they eat from the tree he told them not to eat from (v.11). God knew the answer already, but He wanted them to confess about what happened. Now here's where we see the blame game happening in verses 12 and 13. Adam blames Eve for giving him the fruit to eat and reminds God she is the woman He gave her (v.12). Eve blames the serpent for tricking her to eat the fruit (v.13). Because of disobedience, Adam, Eve and the serpent all got consequences for their actions (v.14-19). Do you see how Adam and Eve did not own up to their actions and put the blame on someone else? Now, let's not be so quick to jump on Adam and Eve because I know at one point we all have! Both of them knew the right thing to do, but in that quick moment, they chose what felt good and disobeyed. It was easier to blame someone else for the wrong than to own up to their actions and say, "It was me."  We all have done this at some point in our lives where we handed off the responsibility to someone else instead of taking responsibility. Today, I came to encourage and remind you and myself to take responsibility for all of our actions. We don't know it all. We don't get it right every time. We make mistakes. We're not perfect. It takes humility and being the bigger person to say I messed up. I have learned that you hurt yourself more when you put the blame on someone else. Yes, there will be consequences for our actions just like we saw in the garden. It's not always easy to face them, but we can. We also need to remember we have a God who loves us and wants to forgive us (I John 1:9). He still loved Adam and Eve after their mistake. He still loves us after our mistakes too 💗. Like a parent corrects their children when they do wrong, God corrects us so we can do better and grow in Him. When we ask Him to forgive us (excuse or pardon us) from our wrong, He will do so and remove them far away (Psalms 103:12). Today, we need to take a moment to think about our actions and words. Is there something we need to own up to? Do we need to tell God or someone else, "I'm sorry. I messed up." and need to ask for their forgiveness? Every day, we should ask God to forgive us. Every day, we should check our heart to see if there's anything we're holding on to we shouldn't be. If there is, let's get it right today. Let's not play the blame game today. Don't hand it off to someone else. Don't hide. Let's own up to our actions. Let's say, "It was me." Own it. Confess that you did or said it. Make those necessary changes to do better moving forward in the days ahead. Let our daily prayer to God be Psalms 119:35: "Help me stay on the path of your commands, for I take pleasure in it." Take care and God bless you 💗!!